VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES BẾ THỊ THU TRANG AN INVESTIGATION INTO VIET BAC HIGH SCHOOL 11THGRADE STUDENTS AND TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE APPLICATIONS OF PAIRWORK AND GROUPWORK IN TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS (NGHIÊN CỨU THÁI ĐỘ CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ HỌC SINH LỚP 11 TRƯỜNG THPT VIỆT BẮC ĐỐI VỚI VIỆC SỬ DỤNG HOẠT ĐỘNG CẶP, NHÓM TRONG DẠY HỌC KỸ NĂNG NÓI) MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60 14 10 HA NOI – 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES BẾ THỊ THU TRANG AN INVESTIGATION INTO VIET BAC HIGH SCHOOL 11TH GRADE STUDENTS AND TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE APPLICATIONS OF PAIRWORK AND GROUPWORK IN TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS (NGHIÊN CỨU THÁI ĐỘ CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ HỌC SINH LỚP 11 TRƯỜNG THPT VIỆT BẮC ĐỐI VỚI VIỆC SỬ DỤNG HOẠT ĐỘNG CẶP, NHÓM TRONG DẠY HỌC KỸ NĂNG NÓI) MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60 14 10 SUPERVISOR: TRẦN HIỀN LAN, M. HA NOI - 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION………………………………………………………….… iii TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………………………. iv PART I- INTRODUCTION 1.2 Aims of the study……………………………………………………….4 Method of the study ………………………………………………….5 Scope of the study ……………………………………………………….6 Design of the study ……………………………………………………….3 PART II: DEVELOPMENT Chapter I- THEORETICAL BACKGROUND I. Communicative Language Teaching……………………………………….
Definition of CLT……………………………………………………. Charateristics of CLT…………………………………………………. Using CLT in teaching speaking skill…………………………………. What is speaking ?.
Definition of speaking………………………………………………. Why should we teach speaking skill in the classroom………………. Characteristics of a successful speaking activity……………………. Learners talk a lot………………………………………….
Participation is even………………………………………. Motivation is high…………………………………………. Language is of an acceptable level………………………. Pairwork and groupwork…………………………………………………….
Definition of pairwork and groupwork………………………………… … 8 I. Advantages and disadvantages of pair and group work in a ………………. Advantages of pair and group work in a speaking lesson……… ….Disadvantages of pair and group work in a speaking lesson….10 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Pairwork and groupwork in speaking classroom…………………….
Some pair and group activities in a speaking lesson…………………. The arrangement of pair and group work…………………………….13 Chapter II: THE STUDY………………………………………………………………. The setting of the study …………………………………………………. The 11th grade English program………………………………………….
The teaching materials………………………………………. The course objectives…………………………………………. The study……………………………………………………………………………17 II. The subjects ………………………………………………………………17 II.
Data analysis of teachers’ survey questionnaire…………………. Data analysis of students’ survey questionnaire …………………. The result and discussion from the classroom observation……….29 Chapter III: FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR BETTER USE OF PAIRWORK AND GROUPWORK IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILL III. Suggestions for better use of pairwork and groupwork in teaching Speaking skill.
Model pairwork and groupwork activities for a speaking lesson……………….34 PART III - CONCLUSION I. Limitations of the study………………………………………………………. Suggestions for further study ……………………………………………….39 APPENDICES LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 1 PART I- INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale In the international integrative trend, English starts to become popular in Vietnam, it is considered as a key of communication for Vietnam‟s regional and global integration.
Because of the Educational Reform, the aim of teaching and learning foreign languages in general and English in particular has shifted from a focus on the linguistic competence to an interest in the communicative competence. This trend in language teaching has led to the increasingly important role of teaching and learning speaking skills. In the speaking lessons for 11th grade students, there are many activities. Among them, pair work and group work are seen as key features of a speaking lesson.
They create more opportunities for students to work with each other by exchanging their ideas and, therefore, learning so many things from their partners. Taking part in pair work and group work make students confident and creative in speaking, they also help students overcome their shyness. But, what is the reality of teaching and learning speaking skill in Viet Bac high school? What are the attitudes of students and teachers towards pair and group work in a speaking lesson there? Whether the teachers organize pair and group work in their speaking lessons or not ? As a practitioner of English at Viet Bac High school for 6 years, I have always been aware of the importance of developing speaking skill for my students. I myself think that with profound understanding of the students‟ real needs and their difficulties, teachers can gradually help them achieve fluency and confidence in their speaking.
Within the scope of this study, the researcher seeks to aim at a study on “Viet Bac high school 11th grade students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards the applications of pair work and group work in teaching and learning English speaking skills”. It is also hoped that this study may offer the teachers in the English Faculty, Viet Bac High school, ways on how to use pair work and group work in teaching speaking skills more effectively. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.Aims of the study The study aims to achieve the following primary aims: (i) to investigate the attitudes of teachers and 11th grade students at Viet Bac high school towards the application of pair and groupwork in teaching and learning speaking skills (ii) to examine the current situations of the application of pair and group work in teaching and learning speaking skills at this school. (iii) to suggest some simple activities of pair work and group work to make students interested in their speaking lessons.
Research questions This study aims to answer the following research questions: (i) What are attitudes of 11th grade students and teachers at Viet Bac high school towards the application of pair work and group work in learning and teaching speaking skills ? (ii) What is the current application of pair work and group work in teaching and learning speaking skills at Viet Bac high school like? 1. Scope of the study As stated above, the study focuses on the investigation into Viet Bac 11 th grade students‟ and teachers‟ attitudes towards the application of pair work and group work in teaching and learning speaking skills. Basing on the reality, the researcher tends to give some suggestions about pair and group work activities in order to make learning and teaching speaking skills more effective, and more appropriate for students‟ communicative ability. Method of the study Both qualitative and quantitative methods are applied.
(i) By means of qualitative method, the author has to refer to different materials, lectures, former researches and relevant issues related to pairwork, groupwork and teaching speaking skill to gain more knowledge of the subject matter and to come to the final conclusion. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 3 (ii) By means of quantitative method, the survey questionnaire is the main tool. Firstly, a survey questionnaire is given to 6 teachers who are teaching English to 11th grade students at Viet Bac high school. Another survey questionnaire is to 100 students at grade 11.
These survey questionnaires were used to collect information and evidence for the study with the hope that the research would be reliable and the processing of data would be manageable within limited time. In addition, the researcher also used qualitative method, class observations with the hope that two methodologies supplement each other so that the data could be more reliable. All comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusion provided in the study are based on the data analysis. Design of the study This study consists of three parts: introduction, development, and conclusion.
The introduction presents the background, aims, research questions, scope and design of the study. The development comprises three chapters: - Chapter I reviews the theoretical backgrounds, which related to speaking skills, pair work and group work. - Chapter II presents in more details the setting and data analysis. - Chapter III is findings, proposed activities and some pedagogical suggestions.
The conclusion at the end of the thesis summarizes the main issues in the study and makes suggestions for further research. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 4 PART II- DEVELOPMENT Chapter I – THEORETICAL BACKGROUND I. Communicative Language Teaching(CLT).1 Definition of CLT Although there are many definitions about CLT, they have the general idea that CLT emphasizes communication in foreign language teaching and improves the learners‟ competence through communicative activities. As for Richards and Rodgers (1986) CLT means using procedures where learners work in pairs or groups employing available language resources to complete problem-solving tasks.
Nunan states “Communicative Language Teaching views language as a system for the expression of meaning. Activities involve oral communication, carrying out meaningful tasks and using language, which is meaningful to the learners. Objectives reflect the needs of the learners including functional skills as well as linguistic objectives. The learner‟s role is a negotiator and integrator.
The teacher‟s role as a facilitator of the communication process.” (Nunan, 1989:194) Nunan‟s definition above, as with any definition of the language teaching method, represents a particular view of understanding and explaining language acquisition. Obviously, the superiority of communicative language teaching approach is that emphasis on developing speaking ability of students through speaking activities and other techniques. Thus, students are encouraged to use real appropriate language to communicate with one another. Characteristics of CLT CLT is identified with the following characteristics: - It makes communicative competence the goal of teaching.
- It develops procedures for the teaching of the four language skills that acknowledge the interdependence of language and communication. - It considers learners and his communicative needs the centre of language LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 5 teaching process. The objective of language teaching is to develop “communicative competence”. In communicative classes, students communicate with each other and learning tasks are completed by means of interaction between students.
It is clear that students‟ completing a task is fore-grounded and communicating with each other is back-grounded. This may lead to considerable use of pair work and group work and mixed activities. In the classroom CLT often takes the form of pair and group work requiring negotiation and cooperation between learners, fluency-based activities that encourage learners to develop their confidence, role-plays in which students practise and develop language functions, as well as judicious use of grammar and pronunciation focused activities. Larsen Freeman (1986) states that CLT uses authentic, from life materials.
Communicative language teaching makes use of real-life situations that necessitate communication. Thus, it is a good way to provide students with as many opportunities as possible for the communicative purposes. CLT is also associated with learner-centered and experienced based tasks. Students in learner-centered approach are seen as being able to play more active and participatory role.
Based on these characteristics of CLT, teachers should choose appropriate techniques as well as activities in the classroom to increase and improve students‟ communicative competence. Using CLT in teaching speaking skills. According to CLT, teaching speaking skills involves the use of language through different communicative activities. When using communicative activities in speaking, it is necessary to make sure that students are comfortable and confident.
This brings students a feeling of security so they find it easy to discuss and share their ideas with their partners. Students also have more opportunities to speak since the students try to achieve mutual understanding and modify their language according to the demand of the situation. Communicative activities encourage motivation because they ensure that communication is purposeful rather than artificial. Communicative activities offer opportunities to develop speaking skill as well as cognitive ability such as analyzing, evaluating and synthesizing information.
It is believed that successful communication is an LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 6 integrated accomplishment. When using communicative activities students are stimulated to respond actively and participate with their classmates. Communicative activities are often conducted with pair work and group work in which students talk to many partners and interact with them. This reduces their stress and anxiety about their performance.
In brief, communication activities can boost proficiency and greatly improve communicative competence. What is speaking? I.